Reggie Talks About Nintendo’s Entertainment-Focussed Future And How The MiiVerse Will Help

The gaming industry is entering a new era, one where the big three, Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony, don’t just compete with each other but also with the likes of Google, Apple and Facebook.

With the Wii U on the horizon Reggie Fils-Aime wanted to set the tone and talk about how the company is aiming to become a big provider of not just games, but entertainment as well. In an interview with The Seattle Times, Reggie said:

“We’ve always been an entertainment company, going all the way back to the hanafuda cards and our key equities. We’re an entertainment company. I think what the Wii U does is further show that our vision is this broader entertainment landscape. Because in the end the time that consumer spends in any form of entertainment that’s not on our device is a missed opportunity for us.”

This broadening of the entertainment landscape seems to have been a long term evolution for Nintendo as Reggie went on to point out previous avenues the company have gone down:

“It’s that type of thinking that led us to create “Brain Age,” same type of thinking that led us to create “Wii Fit.” It’s looking at the broadest landscape possible as to what constitutes entertainment.”

Nintendo wants to appeal to a whole range of consumers “whether they’re 95 years old or 5 years old.” Reggie believes the Wii U is the next big step for Nintendo in achieving this ongoing goal.

“I think that certainly as we launch the Wii U, as consumers experience Nintendo TV, I think consumers will also see us as a broader entertainment company.”

Naturally, competition in the tablet and entertainment market is fierce but Reggie firmly believes Nintendo have a strategy in place to win a large share of it by using things such as the MiiVerse.

“We believe we’re going to get traction with Miiverse because it’s going to be dedicated to your gaming friends and your gaming community.”

“Here’s the example: Yes, I belong to a few different social networks. But on that social network am I going to be posting how, you know, challenging this particular part of this particular Mario game is and asking for help? Probably not. But I will post that type of information on Miiverse. And that’s the difference. We’re trying to cater to a specific opportunity around gaming and gaming conversations that we know our audience is passionate about.”

So by creating a truly specific social network that’s dedicated to Nintendo gamers, Reggie feels Nintendo are onto a winner whether those within the MiiVerse are dedicated hardcore gamers or just casual players.

“Whether they’re the most active consumer or whether they’re the brand new game player, they get passionate about a game, they get passionate about questions of how to beat a level, the background for a level, what to play next. And we believe all of those social conversations are going to be best served by something like Miiverse vs. an existing social network.”

This shows that the MiiVerse is only after one type of consumer, the Nintendo gamer. Nintendo aim to give these consumers an online hub where they can communicate with fellow Nintendo gamers. As for other entertainment areas Reggie was clear again, the consumers have the choice and perhaps other social networks are more suited to other forms of entertainment.

“For those types of conversation, we’re letting the consumer decide what’s the best social network to use, whether it’s through Miiverse or Twitter or Facebook. All of that’s possible through Nintendo TV.”

So what do you guys think? Have Nintendo got this right? Will you be using the MiiVerse on top of your other social networks or do you believe there isn’t much use to it thanks to Facebook, Twitter and Google+? Let us know what you think!